The invention relates to a floor pedal device for heavy motor vehicles, more particularly trucks, buses, mobile cranes, and the like that includes at least                a pedal element and        a base plate element that are connected to each other by means of a connector device; and        a signal generator device that is at least partially connected with the connector device and by means of which a signal is generated via movement of the pedal element.        
The signal generator device makes use of a rotational-angle sensor that includes at least one Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) with a Hall-effect that produces an ASIC output voltage with a linear section for a floor pedal device.
The pedal element in the floor pedal device may be moved between an idle position and a full-throttle position of an internal combustion engine to create a signal corresponding to the movement of the pedal element.
A floor pedal device of the above-mentioned type is known from EP 0 416 039 B2. It includes a pedal element and a floor element that are connected with each other so that they may move. A potentiometer is provided that recognizes the relative movement between the pedal element and the floor element and delivers a pulse width modulated signal corresponding to the position of the pedal element.
The disadvantage is that, with the known device, only a single pulse-width-modulated signal is created. Thus, the device may be used only for one application. Since a long resistance path is necessary to produce the potentiometer signal and to create an pulse-width-modulated signal, an intermediate mechanical element is required.
A gas pedal device is known from DE 195 03 335 A1 that consists of a pedal element and a base plate that are movably connected with each other. A motion-sensor element with a stationary and a mobile unit is positioned at the gas-pedal pivot axis. For this, the stationary unit within the gas pedal pivot axis is fixed and the moving part is connected to the pedal element. In order to prevent damage to the sensor element by excessive pedal movement, the known gas-pedal device is constructed as a motion-limiting actuation unit.
A motion-sensor element designated as a rotational-angle sensor is known from WO 95 14 911 A1. It consists of a stationary and a rotating formation. The stationary formation includes two half-moon-shaped stator elements between which a separating recess is located in which a Hall-effect is positioned. The rotating formation includes a ring-shaped magnetic element held by a securing unit, and it is moveable about the stator elements with an air gap.
This rotational-angle sensor has proven itself. However, its design is not limited to use in a floor pedal device for heavy vehicles, particularly for trucks, buses, mobile cranes, etc.
Such a rotational-angle sensor is also known from the following publications: WO 98 25 102 A1, DE 197 16 985 A1, DE 199 03 490 A1, and EP 1 024 267 A2.